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9/7/2011 7:50PM

A Changing View of the Islamic World

In the decade since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. relationship with the Islamic world has undergone some profound changes. A more sophisticated view of the region has emerged that offers hope for improved relations, WSJ's Jerry Seib says, but also the possibility of missing some danger signs.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... when the tenth anniversary of nine eleven terrorist attacks a lot of Americans attention is focused as it should be on what happened here what happened in New York when that when terrorists can be and what happen in Washington the Pentagon was hit ... and that's entirely appropriate ... it's probably worth also thinking about something that's happened beyond our shores which is that ... in the decade since nine eleven the U S relationship with the Islamic world ... has undergone some profound changes ... you know the terrorists to hit on nine eleven were striking in the name of Islam ... it was the preferred fuel Islam obviously ... but nonetheless he created a feeling in the US that there was a symptom of an epic struggle under way between the West in the world of Islam ... and some extent that was true ... in every ordered American foreign policy priorities in a big way ... Afghanistan and Pakistan which had been at best second tear concerns became top priority items ... Saddam Hussein went in the minds of the Bush administration for being a nuisance to be an actual threat who had to be eliminated ... Yemen went from being a servant back order to place that had real national security ... a priority for the US ... and the same time I think the US struggle for some years to develop a more sophisticated view of the world of Islam may I think it in the last few years that's come imports of crude that there has been more sophisticated view that developed ... out that no longer does the US to see the traditional autocratic regimes and in the Islamic world is the bulwarks of stability and ... increasingly they see regimes like ... pasta Mubarak's in Egypt and ... Kacher Assad's in Syria ... an alloy of gold so on in Yemen as being ... dangers to stability to the saviors of stability ... and increasingly the model that seems to be the one U S officials look to is the way for the future in the region is one that ... embraces Islam in a more moderate way which is to say the kind of government that's involved in Turkey ... and the hope lies that some of the more moderate friendly their Islamic governments in the Saudi government the Jordanian government ... can bridge this gap between the old autocratic ways in the kind of new ways of embrace ... modern Islam and while Ciris is pushing aside ... the more radical versions of Islam and US governments seem to have adapted to this that to some extent ... it's willing for example in Afghanistan to talk to the good elements of the Taliban which was said about a bounce a few years ago ... it except the idea that an Indian Muslim Brotherhood ... element in a new Egyptian government hopes that that works out for the best ... thing is the danger in all this is probably that the US ... while thinking is to help the more sophisticated view of the world of Islam ... this is some danger signs witnesses the fact that ... there are radical elements working within ... the kind of mid and Mid Road ... Islamic elements that it's willing to embrace and maybe that in the long run the most effective thing that's happened to diminish the attractiveness of the radical Islamic ... model ... didn't have a lot to do with going for policymaking may have simply been the fact that the U S through a combination of better security better intelligence and better long Forstmann ... prevented a repeat of the nine eleven attacks and a diminished ... this myth of the all-powerful Qaeda emerging in the Islamic world ... has helped hasten the decline of the al-Qaeda al-Qaeda establishment in the al Qaeda ... idea ... and I suppose that in the long run of us has to hope that ... the signs that emerge ... continued to to ... look promising ... but there's no guarantee of that the Arab Spring brought about change in Egypt from the change in Tunisia ... bringing about change in Syria after sleeping in Iran ... there's no guarantee that change turned out for the best one thing that's clear is that the US does not look ... at the Islamic world as a monolith anymore is prepared to suitable for distinctions and differences both between countries and within countries themselves ... and their foreign policy apparatus is challenge I think ... is to try to foster change in a positive direction ... I do think that one thing that's ... developed over the last ten years ... is a lot more sophistication a lot more knowledge ... and that's gonna be ... hopeful for the future ...